Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Advisory: "The Hospital" TV Feed Could Be Blocked To Viewers Outside Taiwan..!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Ed Ching
In connection with the post below me on the tight guarding of the materials in the upcoming CTV 8PM drama "The Hospital", there is a big possibility that the satellite feed of the said domestic television station from Taiwan could be blocked to viewers outside of Taiwan.
Regional viewers got a first taste of censorship in pop idol dramas of a magnitude like "The Hospital" only last year, when Taiwan's cable programmer San Lih Television (SET), blocked feeds of the first run of its pop idol dramas "Mr. Fighting" featuring 5566's Tony Sun and Zax Wang, and "The Frog Prince" featuring 183 Club and Ming Dao, with Joe Chen carried by TTV, and in turn by regional satellite TV provider C-Skynet.
Both "Mr. Fighting" and "The Frog Prince" registered above 6.00% average TV ratings that time, which prompted the satellite provider that carries to block the signals of the two shows for copyright reasons. After the two shows though, it did not censor anymore its subsequent programs like "Green Forest, My Home (Leon Williams and Esther Liu of Sweety)" and the recent Sunday night blockbuster "The Magicians of Love (Ming Dao, Sam Wang of 5566 and Joanne Zhen of Sweety)".
Several countries, including the Philippines (via ABS-CBN), have already bought rights to "The Hospital" way in advance, and this has increased the possibility of a signal block for the show's first run in Taiwan to viewers outside of Taiwan. If ever this will materialize, local Jerry fans need not have to be surprised at all by the move. If the producers of Taiwan's pop idol shows have done this to SET dramas before, it can do so with the others.
We do not mean to disappoint Jerry fans here in Manila, but this is one of the possibilities that might arise from the intense talk in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia about "The Hospital" even before its August 15 TV premiere in Taiwan.
credit to edching908 of tsinoy.com
11:51 PM
